The Influence : Mau5in Around Prequel
by RavingKangaroo
Summary: Prequel to Mau5in Around. The story of Daft Punk beginning a life on Earth, their creation of Mau5 and all the mischievous adventures up to the Deadmau5 tour in Essex, England. Daft Punk x OC
1. Chapter 1

**Log Entry 001. Earth. **

_Paris, France. It has only been 74 hours since we've been on this planet. We have successfully met with superior leaders of each divided territory. To our delightful surprise, they seem very intrigued and interested in us. So far, our Creators' plan has been falling into place._

It paused. There was light that had softly fallen down on the golden metallic skin of the machine. Gears softly turning as it arched its head to peer up and it stared into the face of the moon, which had peeked out from behind dark clouds. There was, in fact, only one moon here. Not like home.

The pavement was freezing in the shadows of the alleyway. It did not bother the machine in the slightest way. The chill was just a small spark in its senses, but it gave it no discomfort.

This current post was very confining, completely sealing the machine away from the busy city. All that there was to see were the vacant, towering building structures on all sides and the cloudy night sky above. The machine's companion had mentioned that the structures were empty businesses and offices.

Businesses. Offices. What were those?

The only way out of this chamber of urban design was the back entrance. The machine liked that. It could hide itself here and not be bothered or seen by any human being. Here, it was still as close to the human world as can be.

_The humans listened to our intentions; that our presence was nothing more than a test. We told them how we wished to spread our messages to the entire world. Spread it, but not let them know of it. They would never learn what we really are. It was complicated to get them to understand how our messages work and how the waves spread to an organic mind. This must have startled them. They began to question whether our intentions were good. Fact: our intentions were not good, nor were they bad. It is just a test The human leaders were skeptical, just as the Creators had predicted all humans would be. They were afraid of us… but only at first._

It stopped again; the text that had scrolled over the face of the machine disappeared and was stored in its head. There was a soft sound nearby. The machine's head tilted down looking for the source of such an odd, high-pitched sound. There, on the pavement, ran a small creature. It's body looked to be perfectly round and its small, cord like tail twitched each time it stopped to sniff the ground. Hundreds of thousands of individual hairs sprouted from its small body and covered it.

The machine stared at the creature, attracted by its size and simplicity. It shifted slightly towards the creature to get a better look. In response, the creature stopped in its tracks and stared at the machine with perfectly round and sharp eyes. It's tiny body quivered as its heart beat rapidly. The machine's helmet-like face lit up in colors on both sides of it in a fan-like pattern. A virtual face reflecting that of a human being appeared and formed a smile on the screen surface. A deep, monotone voice came forth from inside the machine's body:

"HELLO."

The furry creature turned around completely and quickly darted away in fright. There came another sound from the machine, much like an electronic chuckle. The gears and parts echoed inside its body as it imitated a human laugh. It turned its face back up to the dark sky as the text of its log resumed on the screen.

_The humans are afraid… but they put some trust in us. Their fears subsided once we played our messages to them and let them experience it for themselves. They were overwhelmed with feelings of, as they explained to us, 'contentment' and 'relaxation'. It was amazing to see such expressions of human emotion come from them. They think we will be good for their people so they have granted us the privilege to live among them._

A loud noise came overhead. Flashes of white and red lights could be seen sparkling up among the dim stars. The machine watched as a huge, human craft made its way across the sky searching for a place to land. It watched the winged vessel slowly disappear over the buildings. It concluded its report:

_We still have much to learn from these humans, as well as the many other organisms, on the planet Earth. There is much to observe and so little time to do so. Soon, we must build our own creation as a result of our experience here. Such a creation may help us in our process of spreading our message worldwide. _

_Unit 002… Report end._

**Log Entry 002. **

_The Rodent. Simplistic, but not simple. We have decided to start with this Earthly creature. We will study it, we will test it, we will learn it from the inside out._

_It has been 41 Earth days. Unit 002 has become anxious to begin our work, however, we have to approach the Creators' plan carefully. We have to study more before we can create._

Silver-fingered digits tweaked some cables, plugs and knobs.

_Once we finish with the simple creature, we can move on and test other creatures... more complex creatures._

A hum noise filled the room as a switch was turned and electricity began to flow through the hooked cables.

_If this first few series of tests are positive, perhaps the simplistic creature can be used in our creations. _

The text on the silver machine's screen vanished as it prepared the device before it. The large box flickered brightly with life and hummed steadily. The silver machine adjusted more knobs on the top and on the sides.

To the left, it could hear loud squeaks of panic. It ignored these sounds of stress for now. Soon enough, those sounds would stop. Patiently, the machine worked, prepping for its first test. The human devices available were not fit for their work. They need to be fixed.

There was a click and the final cable fell into place. The machine felt the sudden rush of charged energy flow through it. Its narrow screened face glowed brightly... It was content with its progress.

The squeaking continued along with the sounds of teeth on metal. The machine glanced over at its test subject. He was frantically gnawing on the bars of his cage, trying to get out. The machine stared, reading the fear expressed on the small creatures huge, beady eyes.

Gears in the core of the machine turned as it bellowed electronic sounds to form human words: "MOUSE," It spoke in a flat tone. "YOU ARE AFRAID."

Indeed, the small rodent feared for his life. It was very easy to see. Emotions in such simplistic creatures were easier to read.

"YOU WILL NOT BE AFRAID ANYMORE," The machine spoke. Reaching with its limb and gripping the last cable in its silvery digits, the machine brought it up to the center of its body. With its other limb, it pulled open the casing that sealed up its core. Carefully, the cable was connected into the machine's system.

**Synced. Ready.**

It felt the energy from the box feed into it slowly. Now it could start the test.

Softly the machine worked its mental coding. The coding converted into its message. Then, the message was transferred into the box. Out came sounds from the speakers on the mechanical box. These sounds were fluid and foreign to the rodent, but they soothed him and made his body relax. Almost immediately, the creature settled down on the floor of his cage, closed his eyes and rested. His tiny body still continued to quiver as he breathed quickly, but it was certain that the message had a positive effect. The machine watched and observed. Light flashed on its face again. Gears turned inside it and one human word appeared on the monitor on its head: 'GOOD.'

**Entry Log 003. **

_The mouse was successful. My companion ran several tests on multiple mice and they all gave positive responses to our message. We have noted and dated each test. Once we finish some testing on the next creatures, we will come back to the mouse._

The text glowed brightly on the golden machine's face. There were rays of colors shining on all sides too. The colors reflected his contentment.

_With reports of our successes to the human leaders, I have been called to meet with one of the representatives of France. They want me to explain, in detail, our intensions. They still appear to be suspicious of us._

A door opened. The sound of the lock turning snapped the machine away from its log and turn to look. A human being walked into the room, carrying a small device in its hand. This human looked different than the first group of beings that the machines have met. It observed the walk, the movement and the appearance of this particular human. There were dramatic curves to the form, very long hairs extending out of the scalp and walking devices on its feet that clapped loudly on the hard floor. A realization came to the machine once it heard the human's voice.

"Hello, Unit 002." The voice was high and soft.

The machine leaned its body forward as it stared at the human. "FEMALE. WOMAN." The machine spoke.

The woman nodded and smiled. There was a striking color to that smile. Something about the female humans that made their emotions appear stronger than the males.

"Unit 002, will you please take a seat?" The woman asked.

The machine stared blankly. The wording of this creature's language was unclear. "TAKE A SEAT?"

"Sit down." She said firmly.

It seemed to hesitate. First, the machine turned its screen face around to look behind it. There was a large and long device. Its color was a striking red and its texture looked soft. The machine looked back to the woman and questioned, "SIT HERE?"

The woman nodded. To demonstrate, she seated herself on a similar device across from the machine. She sat down on the cushioned surface and posed herself upright and formal. In response, the machine sat itself identically to her, mirroring her posture and form. The woman's lips parted to show her clean, white-toothed smile. "You look like a human," she commented.

The machine's face lit up with multicolor lights. "THE CREATORS DID THEIR BEST."

"And they did a wonderful job. Just by looking at you, I'd say you were a human being in an strange astronaut suit."

The machine did not completely understand her reference, but it decided not to question it. It was irrelevant to the current subject.

The woman cleared her throat and began, "I was assigned to see you today to discuss the work you have done so far…"

The machine did not respond, only stared.

"So according to the report I have here…" She paused briefly to glance over the flat device she held in her left hand, "you and your companion, Unit 001, have had positive results testing your message to a mouse."

"YES."

"So… what does that mean, exactly? How is it positive?"

"THE MESSAGE MADE A RESPONSE IN THE MOUSE."

"What kind of response? What did the mouse do?"

The machine stopped and stared for a second. It couldn't trust this woman to deliver a message properly. It had to word its information in a way that it wouldn't overwhelm or frighten the humans in anyway.

"THE MOUSE BECAME RELAXED."

The woman raised an eyebrow and stared questionably at the golden machine in front of her. "Relaxed? In the same way that our leaders felt when you demonstrated your message to them?"

"YES."

There came a new expression on the woman's face that wasn't exactly clear yet to the machine. It could not read it, but it did know she was preparing to ask the machine something that had been on her mind before she came into this room. The woman shifted her pose to leaning forward and her lips parted again.

The machine leaned forward too, imitating her pose so that she felt it was cooperating with her.

"Why are you here?" She asked, her eyes slightly fluttering.

The machine's gears slowly began to turn inside its core and head. It could only process one word to explain this. It was dangerous to say it… but there was no other choice.

"TO INFLUENCE THE HUMAN RACE."

"Influence us in what way?" There came a sense of confusion in the machine's own head. There was no right or wrong answer to such a question. "WE HAVE NO DETAILS. WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT THE INFLUENCE WILL DO."

The woman's eyes narrowed. "So this could be bad for us in the long run? Is that what you are saying?"

"NO SUCH RESULT POSSIBLE."

The woman fell silent. It guessed she wanted it to explain more so, the Machine's gears began to spin quicker as it thought to express the plans of the Creators clearer for the human's to understand.

"WE ARE A PEACEFUL GROUP OF BEINGS. WE BELIEVE WE ARE SUPERIOR. IN NO WAY DO WE WANT TO CONQUER, ONLY LEARN. WE WANT TO INFLUENCE… TO SEE IF WE CAN HELP YOU."

"Help us? Help us with what? From what?"

"FROM YOURSELVES."

She now leaned back and sighed, folding her arms in front of her body. This time, the machine did not imitate her; it only continued to sit forward.

"From ourselves…" The woman muttered. "Your kind wants us to stop fighting with each other... is that right?"

"HUMANS HAVE POTENTIAL. WE WANT TO TAKE OUT THE DISTRACTION OF COMPETITION. WE WANT THE HUMANS TO PROGRESS AS GREATLY AS THEY CAN."

"Aren't you afraid that we will become too advanced? Haven't you considered that if we gained as much power as you, we will betray you?" There was a very bitter tone in the woman's voice.

"WE DO NOT HAVE POWER. WE HAVE CONTROL. CONTROL OF OURSELVES. YOU DO NOT."

The woman stared deeply at this machine, completely engaged in this thought. The machine could tell that perhaps it had won over this human's opinion. This human would help them fulfill the Creators' plan.

"IF OUR MESSAGE WORKS… IF THE INFLUENCE WORKS… YOU HUMANS WILL NEVER AGAIN SEEK TO BETRAY. YOU WILL FINALLY UNITE WITH THE REST OF US."

At that moment, the woman's eyes widened. The color in her face had left her skin. "...The rest of you?"

The machine's screened face formed the imitation of a human smile. That smile grinned at her with reassurance and comfort.

"WE ARE JUST THE BEGINNING."


	2. Chapter 2

"Marie, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Luke."

"You're shaking. Can you please sit down? You're making me nervous."

The woman didn't resist when her fellow agent took her by the shoulders and sat her down on the couch.

"Luke… those beings," She whispered, staring down at the bright red carpet below her.

"Tell me everything." He said to her softly. "It didn't hurt you, did it?"

"No… " She said, swallowing the lump in her throat. Her voice became clearer. "It said they were here to influence us."

"What do you mean?"

"They are going to mentally influence the human race to change. Said their… messages… that they send through electronic waves, you know?" She gestured with her hands from her forehead to the air around her, "Those messages are going to change people to be good.. uh… no more betrayal, greed…"

"Bêtise…" Luke mumbled to himself as he shook his head. "How is that possible?"

"I… I don't know." Marie now sat up straight and brushed her dark hair out of her face.

"Are you sure you're alright? You looked… terrified when you came out of that room."

"I'm not afraid… not really." She said, now in a hush whisper all of a sudden. "There was… just something about the way that machine explained everything to me. I felt… so inferior… but so hopeful."

Luke raised an eyebrow, but then turned his head to look out the door and into the hallway. He was quiet for a moment before he spoke again, "It's still waiting for us to dismiss it."

Marie nodded and slowly stood up next to Luke. "I shall dismiss him…"

Luke looked back, "Him?"

Marie quickly shook her head… "Sorry, it. I don't know why I said that."

Luke stared at his co-worker for a moment. "Go dismiss Unit 2, and meet me in my office. I'm going to gather up the rest of us."

Marie nodded as she and Luke parted. She went out into the hall and clapped loudly on her high heels towards the conference room.

She paused briefly outside the door before she turned the handle and walked in. She found Unit 002 still sitting on the couch where she left him, perfectly patient.

_**It**_, she reminded herself again. Unit 002 is an it.

Its face was glowing. A pixilated human face was on the screen, reflecting the machine's contentment.

"HELLO." The machine said, not turning to look at Marie.

"It is time for you to return back to your headquarters."

"HEADQUARTERS. I LIKE THAT TERM."

Marie bit her lip from its use of words. These machines actually have feelings…

"Thank you for cooperating, Unit 002."

"NO, THANK YOU." The machine finally looked in her direction as it stood up gracefully. It bowed to her deeply and turned to stride out the door.

"Wait, robot…" Marie said. She hesitated, afraid to sound unprofessional to the robot. She didn't mean to call it by Robot.

"…YES?" It's face was reflecting images of robots. Perhaps it was researching the term in its head.

"I apologize. Machine.. just doesn't fit what you are."

"YOU ARE RIGHT. ROBOT DOES FIT MY DESCRIPTION BETTER."

Marie nodded, her head falling low and her black hair draping over her face. "Do you really want me… want us to call you Unit 002?"

The machine must have sensed the strange transition of her attitude towards it. It was quiet for a second as it thought, the gears turning in its body.

"THAT IS THE NAME I AM ASSIGNED BY THE CREATORS. I HAVE NO OTHER NAME."

"May I give you a human name?"

A face, which had the look of astonishment lit up on the monitor of the machine's face. Finally it nodded. "OF COURSE."

"Guy Manuel."

"GUY MANUEL."

"Or Guy for short. Simple and easy to remember."

"I LIKE IT." The smiling face reappeared on its monitor. "THANK YOU. I MUST GO NOW."

"Au revoir," Marie said gently. "Goodbye."

The smiling pixel face nodded to her on the machine's face. "AU REVOIR." It imitated perfectly.

Just as the door closed softly behind the golden robot, the young woman Marie gripped her sides tightly and shuddered from an overwhelming emotion she could not place properly.

…

**Log Entry 005.**

_I have grown displeased with the lack of progress on this world. Human technology is significantly behind. I've had to reinvent most of my materials that Unit 002 and I will need for testing._

The hallway was a construction sight. Half plastered office building walls, and half torn up, with marks for building plans. The silver machine needed no help building, except 002. This place would be their home for a long time, if not, for the rest of their existence. It all depended on whether or not the Creators would need them elsewhere or if the humans would let them leave. This home couldn't **possibly **be built by a human.

_Planning out our living space is the first important step. If we do not equip ourselves with the programs and parts we need, we cannot test. We need to start testing on the larger organisms soon._

The home was going to be alive. It was going to have a mind. And the machines would build it, together. Then, with their minds synced to their home, testing would go quickly and efficiently.

The machine's small visor on its face glowed a solid red as it teetered about the construction sight. It paused in place, reading measurements and calculating the appropriate marks. It planned out the heart of the Home first. Once this center place was prepared for construction, it could branch out and began tearing down the human walls for the other individual rooms.

There came a solid, single knock at the door. The silver machine couldn't have heard it, since it was so far back into the Home. But it felt his counterpart's presence.

_'UNIT 002. WELCOME HOME.'_ The human words came through his mind and sung through waves. The sounding message was carried to the door. The silver machine now turned and walked to the door, and unlocked the human device, which sealed its bolts shut. Unit 002 stood in the hall just outside the Home. The screen monitor on his face light up in a ray of colors and a pixilated human face smiled at Unit 001.

"WERE THE HUMANS MORE COOPERATIVE THIS TIME?" the silver machine asked.

Its golden partner nodded, stepping into the Home and locking the door behind them.

"I MET WITH A FEMALE."

"FEMALE?" Unit 001 reflected the images of the average human woman in its head from memory. "WAS SHE APART OF THE HUMAN'S GOVERNMENT SYSTEM?"

"INDEED SHE WAS." The gold one then looked down, pondering over its conversation with the woman. "AFTER WE DISCUSSED THE PROGRESS, SHE GAVE ME A HUMAN NAME..."

A question mark scrolled over the silver machine's slim face. It thought to ask what it was first. But it knew Unit 002 well enough to know it would tell. So it asked instead: "WHY DID SHE DO THAT?"

Unit 002 seemed a bit caught off guard by its companion's question. "I DON'T KNOW ENTIRELY... BUT IF I HAD TO GUESS, IT'S BECAUSE SHE DOESN'T LIKE THE ASSIGNED NAME OUR CREATORS GAVE US."

"AND THE NAME..." there seemed to be some small sense of predigest in its companion's mind. It was easy to sense. The golden machine knew that Unit 001 didn't like humans interfering with them.

"SHE GAVE ME THE NAME 'GUY'."

Guy. The word repeated on the silver machine's visor. "GUY IS ANOTHER HUMAN WORD FOR MALE. DOES THAT MEAN SHE HAS GIVEN YOU AN ASSIGNED HUMAN GENDER TOO?"

The golden machine cocked its screened head to the side. "IT WOULD SEEM SO."

"WHAT MAKES HER BELIEVE YOU ARE MALE? YOU DON'T ACTUALLY HAVE A GENDER. BECAUSE WE ARE NOT HUMAN."

"I KNOW THIS. BUT IF WE ACCEPT THIS, IT WILL HELP THE HUMANS OPEN UP TO US EASILY, WILL IT NOT?"

Unit 002's argument was completely valid. But it did not settle well with Unit 001.

"I THINK YOU WOULD BE MALE TOO, 001."

"WHY DO YOU SAY THAT, 002?"

"MY NAME IS GUY."

Unit 001's visor became blank, no light shining from within it.

"I CAN HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS. YOU DON'T WANT TO CALL ME BY A HUMAN NAME." The golden machine said. Its voice mimicked the tone of a human's voice that felt upset. This did not faze the silver one, however.

"NO, I DO NOT. AND NOR DO I WANT TO CALL YOU A MALE."

"PLEASE, MY COMPANION." The golden machine's face reflected a human face that frowned hard at 001.

The silver machine did not reply, only looked down at the floor. Its mind was resisting, even though it did not like to upset Unit 002.

Since its companion was not going to speak about this anymore, the golden machine changed the subject. "THE HUMAN WOMAN ALSO SAID SHE DOESN'T THINK WE ARE MACHINES. SHE SAID ITS NOT THE CORRECTED HUMAN TERM FOR WHAT WE ARE."

There was a sound that immediated a human sigh that came from within 001's body. "THERE IS NO CORRECT HUMAN WORD TO EXPRESS WHAT WE ARE."

"BUT THERE IS A BETTER ONE THAN MACHINE. SHE SAID WE ARE MORE LIKE ROBOTS."

The silver one shot a fast glance at 002. It had completely ignored the comment and asked, "WHY ARE YOU LETTING THE HUMAN FEMALE THINK FOR YOU? WHY DO YOU NOT USE YOUR OWN JUDGEMENT?"

002 cocked his head again, this time looking directly into its companion's face. "I DID. AND I AGREE WITH HER. WE ARE ROBOTS. TO THE HUMANS, THAT IS."

"_**STOP**_." the words even appeared on Unit 001's visor. Its visor was glowing a deep purple, expressing frustration. This made the companion fall silent.

"I APOLOGIZE, UNIT 002. I'M NOT READY FOR SO MUCH HUMAN INFLUENCE YET. IT'S TOO SOON."

The troubling thoughts made sense to Unit 002. The golden robot nodded, as a sad face appeared on its monitor. "SORRY."

001 merely shook its metallic head, dismissing the problem.

"THE CREATORS DID CREATE YOU FOR THE STANDARD INTELLEGENCE. I AM SUPPOSED TO BE THE ONE THAT INTRODUCES HUMAN NATURE AND HUMAN PERSONALITY TO THE BOTH OF US."

"I KNOW. I REMEMBER..." the electronic voice had fallen silent in the silver robots mechanical throat.

Unit 002... Guy... Knew that its companion was done with this conversation. It turned its golden head to the center of the Home. Unit 001 had done a lot of preparation for the building of the Home. Perhaps it was time for it... for him... to contribute.

"UNIT 001, LET US WORK MORE ON HOME."

There came a slight nod to the silver one's head as it turned to look down the hall. "COME. LET US BUILD THE HEART."

...

He could hear those robotic beings walk about, clanking their metal feet about the hallways. They were building something.

The creature's beady eyes blinked heavily out the cage. His nose quivered.

_There is another creature in here..._

He could not see it. He sniffed the air closer, the whiskers around his nose prickling. It smelled not of foul disease or threat. So there was no need for panic.

_How long would he be here? What was this other creature in this room? Where is food?_

The rodent then tucked his legs under his body and settled in the corner of the cage, still watching the room for movement.

_Food... Where is the food...?_


	3. Chapter 3

Fingers typed on a black keyboard. The light from the computer screen hardly illuminated the small office.

"I'm heading home."

"Okay."

Luke finally staggered into the doorway where she could see him. She quickly glanced up at him before she resumed to her work. From that brief moment, she could see how exhausted he was with the low light casting heavy black shadows under his baggy eyes.

"Marie, you should head home soon too. Get some rest."

"Je vais, I will."

Luke stood there a moment longer, waiting for her to look up again. When she didn't, he went ahead and added:

"Why are you doing all this extra work on these guys?"

Marie shrugged. "For the hard effort. You think they'll give me a raise?" she sounded quite sarcastic.

"Aucun…No…" Luke was too tired for the joke.

"They fascinate me, Luke."

"Je sais, I know… They interest me as well. But I'm not going to let that get in the way of my sleep… of my health."

Marie smiled slightly. Finally, Luke left her in the dark office, with nothing but the low hums coming from the computer.

"Votre ami…. What is your friend like…?" she mumbled. She had stopped typing her report and looked back on the pixelated image of the two robots from their first meeting with the Ministers and the US President. It's face… or helmet, was shaped and structured quite differently. Instead of bearing gold, this one was a chrome silver, and a small visor screen went across where the eyes should be.

"Unit 001…intéressant… I wonder if your face makes shapes and symbols too."

She began striking down her thoughts on a side document:

'_Are they connected? Like wifi computers? Can they hear each other without speaking aloud? Were they created at the same time? Is one more superior than the other? Do they process equal knowledge about themselves? About Us?'_

She stopped again. She thought about the Creators that Guy; that Unit 002 had mentioned.

'_Were others created? Are they the only ones? Are their other units out there? Are the others among us and watching-'_

"Aucun! Don't think like that…" She deleted that sentence. That was paranoia playing up suspicions in her head. She knew deep down that there was just as little proof to show she was right as well as being wrong.

"They would tell me if there were others…"

Wouldn't they?

She placed her finger tips to her temples, thinking deeply as she stared fixed on the glowing monitor. Some part of her knew the logical choice would be not to trust beings from another world; not until she could learn everything about them. About their motive, their purpose and their Creators.

"But I **want** to trust them," She said softly. Why did she? Was that maybe a side affect of their waves and sounds they produced? Those fluid soothing noises like rhythmic music leaking into her head and reconstructing her thought process. Like fingers plucking and stringing out fear and panic, to create and replace with a sense of awe and relaxation. Was it all a distraction? This thought should scare her… for all she knew, they had the ability to drug the senses and brainwash the mind. So why did it intrigue her? Encourage her to get closer?

She stood up from her desk and walked over to one of the filing cabinets. She dug through one of the drawers, peeking through several labeled folders.

"Where is it?" She needed that tape. Where was the recorded track of their wave demonstration?

There. Labeled Unit's Message.

She brought the disk over to the computer and placed it into the hard drive.

"Okay… I need to hear that demonstration one more time."

She opened the file in the default audio player and listened. A man spoke softly into a mic at first:

'First audio record of the 'messages' produced by specimens Unit 001 and Unit 002.'

The man fell silent as the sounds could be heard lulling out of the speakers.

The soft shrilling caused immediate nerves to fire in Marie's finger tips. She felt herself slump over, coming closer to the monitor as she listened deeply. She still felt like herself, she still could think for herself… and yet, she could not feel any kind of negative emotion. It was being flushed from her from the core, out. And her fingers… they were the exit, the place where the horrible thoughts were chased out by this beautiful combination of sounds.

Then the pitches began to change, and distinctly there were different coords being struck in the message.

So was this music? Was this how other being betrayed it? Was it how they sang?

She closed her eyes, imagining the sound coming within the two robot's body frames, bellowing out of their imitated human vocal cores and into a humming sensation of song.

It brought a smile to her face.

As she opened her eyes, her attention fell to the silver robot, the one she had not spoken with yet.

"What will your friend be like?"

Suddenly the thought escaped her, and a rush of exhausted overcame her as the sounds of the message came to an end.

Instinctually, she closed her notes up on her desk, saved her progress on the desktop and shut the computer down.

She sat there in the absolute dark for a brief second, not allowing herself to move. She only reflected on the emotions she felt from the music of the robotic beings.

No words, just feelings.

_I don't think everyone will be able to relate to their sounds the same. It needs to be more connected to humanity… United. Somehow…_

…

"AND THAT IS HOW THOMAS EDISON INVENTED THE LIGHT BULB."

Guy Manuel looked up from the text before him, and looked over his shoulder at his companion.

"IT'S A SHAME HE DIDN'T TEST A LITTLE HARDER. HE WAS SO CLOSE TO FINDING THE PATH TO SOMETHING WORTH WHILE…" Unit 001's comment sounded more critical than sympathetic.

"ARE YOU REFERRING TO THE SYNGTHE GENERATORS?" Guy asked, and an image of a glowing device illuminated on his visor.

"INDEED. I NEVER THOUGHT HOW WONDERFUL THEY WERE, UNTIL I FOUND THAT HUMAN LIGHTING HAS A LIMITED LIFE. LIGHT BULBS ONLY LAST FOR 416 EARTH DAYS. SYNGTHE'S DO NOT DIE. THEY RECHARGE AND CONTINUE TO ILLUMINATE LIGHT. THE LIGHTBULB IS SUCH A WASTE OF MATERIAL AND PRODUCTION."

Guy shrugged off the negativity, a digital smile appearing on his face. "INDEED, THE HUMANS ARE VERY BEHIND ON ADVANCEMENT. BUT ISN'T THAT WHY WE ARE HERE?"

Unit 001 let out a statical sound in the back of its artificial throat. "WE ARE HERE AS A TEST, DON'T YOU REMEMBER? WE MAY HELP THEM ADVANCE OR WE MAY NOT. IT'S ALL UP TO THEM IN THE END." It explained.

"EXACTLY." Guy said, straightening in the chair he was seated in. "IF WE SUCCESSFULLY SMOTHER THEIR ANGER AND GREED, AND ALLOW THEM TO FUNCTION AS ONE WHOLE RACE, THEY CAN THEN CATCH UP WITH TECHNOLOGY AND DISCOVERY. PERHAPS EVEN DISCOVER SOMETHING WE HAVE NOT."

"MY LACK OF CONFIDENCE IN THE HUMAN RACE PREVENTS ME FROM BELIEVING SUCH A THING IS POSSIBLE.." Unit 001 said. "BUT WE SHALL SEE, BECAUSE THE CORE OF HUMANITY IS STILL VERY MYSTERIOUS TO US."

"HOW MUCH LONGER WILL YOU BE WORKING?" Guy asked, resting his head down on his metallic arms. The gesture was very human, and it started to cause an irritation in the back of Unit 001's head.

"PERHAPS ANOTHER 24 MINUTES. REINVENTING THE SYNGTHE IS A LOT MORE CHALLENGING THAN I THOUGHT."

Unit 001 had been working all day to recreate a single syngthe, an important lighting unit that was crucial to the creation of the Home. Once it was able to figure out one, making the rest should go quicker over time.

"AND YOU ARE SURE WE CAN RECREATE A CHARGING SYSTEM WITH THESE HUMAN CABLES? OR WILL WE NEED TO ADJUST THEM TOO?" Guy asked curiously.

"WE WILL SEE. PATIENCE, UNIT 002."

Guy created a pixelated frown on his face. Still, his companion did not wish to call him by his new, human name.

"HOW MUCH MORE ENERGY DO YOU HAVE LEFT?" Unit 001 asked.

"ENOUGH FOR ANOTHER 4 DAYS. AND YOU?"

"PRODUCTION HAS LEFT ME TO LESS THAN 2 DAYS…"

"I WILL TAKE OVER WORK ONCE YOU HAVE SHOWN ME HOW TO RECREATE THE SYNGTHES. YOU WILL BE ABLE TO REST FOR A WHILE. THEN WE CAN RESTORE OUR ENERGY WITH THE HEART AND CONTINUE TO MAKE THE HOME."

Unit 001's visor flashed the word 'GOOD'.

Guy continued to watch his companion work; working to reinvent the syngthes: Their light bulb.

"LIGHT BULB…" He flipped the book back over to the front and peered at it again.

"UNIT 001."

The silver robot did not stop, did not even speak aloud, but responded to Guy with a single question mark scrolling over its face.

"COULD WE PERHAPS GIVE YOU A HUMAN NAME TOO?"

A noise came out of Unit 001's core, a sound that was rather unpleasant. The gears had grind aggressively.

"WHY WOULD I NEED A HUMAN NAME?"

"WHY NOT? IF WE ARE TO STUDY THE HUMANS, SHOULD WE NOT ACT MORE LIKE THEM?"

"I AM NOT HUMAN, SO THEREFOR I WILL NOT ACT LIKE ONE."

"BUT DON'T YOU SEE, MY COMPANION? THERE IS IRRITATION IN YOUR TONE. YOU DO NOT HAVE BALANCED COMPOSURE."

Another aggressive sound came forth from the chambers in the silver robot.

"YOU ARE EXPRESSING EMOTION. SOMETHING THAT HUMANS DO REGULARLY."

Unit 001 did not respond anymore. Instead, it quietly finished its work. Guy could tell it was trying to resist anymore expression. It was fighting to show emotion. A smile glowed across Guy's gold helmet face.

"THE CREATORS PROGRAMED US TO BE LIKE THE HUMANS, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OUR NOT, MY COMPANION."

With that, Unit 001 set down its tools rather harshly on the side table and stormed for door. As it stomped off, clanging loudly on the metal floors below, it shouted over its shoulder: "I'M FINISHED. NOW IF YOU WOULDN'T MIND, LET'S SHOW YOU HOW TO MAKE MORE OF THESE SO I CAN REST."

Guy stood there. He knew he shouldn't keep smiling, but he couldn't help it. He was feeling… what emotion was this?

"EXCITEMENT.."

He was thrilled that his companion was beginning to feel it too; beginning to express humanity.

"UNIT 001. YOU CAME TO EARTH AND INVENTED THE NEW LIGHT BULB. YOU ARE THE NEW THOMAS EDISON." He set down the book to follow.


End file.
